Photos: The Beatles’ Arrival in New York, As Seen By Life’s Bill Eppridge

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Photo: Bill Eppridge/Bill Eppridge

When the Beatles landed in New York on February 7, 1964 for their first American visit, Life magazine photographer Bill Eppridge was there to meet them. He shot 90 rolls of film of the group (which he’d never heard of before getting the last-minute assignment) in the following days, though only four pictures appeared in the magazine. Highlights of the rest appear in his new book, The Beatles: Six Days That Changed the World (Rizzoli). Click through the gallery ahead for behind-the-scenes images from the new collection, from the screaming girls greeting them outside the Plaza to their Ed Sullivan Show dress rehearsal.